Brazilian Ederson, Manchester City's goalkeeper, revealed that he was close to moving to the Saudi League during the summer Mercato, but the team's coach, Pep Guardiola, convinced him to abandon the idea.
The Brazilian international was a main target for several Saudi clubs during the summer of 2024, led by Al-Nasr and Al-Ittihad clubs, before they signed the duo Pinto and Predrag Rajkovic.
The Saudi club Al-Ittihad tried to sign Ederson, but was unable to complete the deal after Guardiola intervened.
Ederson admitted, in an interview with TNT Sports Brasil, that he received an offer from the Federation, but Guardiola convinced him to stay.
“I already had an offer on the table, and the offer was extraordinary,” he said.
He added, “I had many conversations with Guardiola, and one of them was very important. But from what he told me, the guarantees, the process and the development that I had with him. All of this was extremely important for my stay at City.”
On more than one occasion, Guardiola praised the importance of the Brazilian goalkeeper in the ranks of Manchester City, and his role with the team, hoping for his continuation.
Guardiola went out and begged him through the media on more than one occasion to refuse to submit to the Saudi temptations he received.
The Brazilian goalkeeper has a contract with the Citizens that extends to the summer of 2026, and he played 9 matches with him this season, during which he conceded 9 goals and kept a clean sheet in two matches.